The Power of Pinning and Tweeting

Are you a Pinner? Or a Tweeter? Well, if you blog, you should pin. And then you should Tweet it. These are great outlets to connect to others interested in things you like. I recently discovered Pinterest via my husband. Yes, you read that correctly. My hubby, Steve Wagner introduced me to Pinterest as he is venturing out into the social media world for his real estate business, and he told me to get my tush on there and start pinning all of the books I’ve read. Well, it’s exactly what I’ve needed. Short, sweet, and to the pinning point. Most days I don’t have an hour or even thirty minutes to write-up a review, and so I’ve fallen out of the blogging world. Now I can connect one another (blog and pin) and still get my words written and out there for all to read.

I am pinning and blogging all the Young Adult books that I have read and LOVED. Why? Because I want to write a smash hit myself one day. I have the ideas oozing from my head and spinning like spidey’s webs all over the place–I just haven’t found the time to sit down and work work work at the moment. I have a near two-year old and a five-year old. Both boys. No more needs to be said!

So, pinning and blogging is my current connection to authors, as well as tweeting. There is nothing cooler than sending an author a tweet and having her respond!! It makes me feel legit, like I am part of something bigger–perhaps a small speck in the published world of YA fiction. And I’m perfectly happy with that right now!! I LOVE making connections, reading the books, and throwing out how they made me feel and hopefully hooking someone else to my “I LOVE this book” YA fishing line. And guess what? I’ve done it! I have successfully recommended books to friends and family and found that they too LOVE what I love!

This is where it all starts. Connections. Grant it, I am not the one who is published and receiving the royalties. BUT, I am making the connections, finding the readers, and figuring out what teens and lovers of YA want to read. AND THEN, one day, I too will be a part of the world of published authors for young adult fiction. Can I get a Hell Yeah?!!

Last night I finished reading Colleen Houck’s Tiger’s Quest. Had my hubby not been in the room, I would have probably shed a few tears. It was so good. I was a bit unsure that I was going to have few good things to say when I began reading the book. It was a bit love sappy throughout the first 100 pages. And being that it is called Tiger’s “Quest”, the quest did not begin until nearly page 200. However, all of these things occurred for a reason. Houck needed to set up the strong emotional connection between Ren and Kelsey in order for the ending of the book to work. I cannot wait to read Houck’s third book in the Tiger Series, Tiger’s Voyage. It comes out in November and I will be counting down the days until I have it in my fingers!

At times I can be quite the slow reader, especially since I have two little boys who keep me busy! However, this was an easy, enjoyable read, and I refused to put the book down unless I absolutely had to! Now it has been a while since I read and greatly enjoyed the Twilight Series. But, I may end up concluding that I enjoyed the Tiger Series far more. There was so much research that had to go into writing these books and the adventure aspect is amazing. I would LOVE to see this series turned into a movie. If you decide to read these books, you too will understand why. Just being able to see the Ren and Kishan on-screen would be quite enjoyable. 😉

Next on my list to read is Angie Sage’s Magyk. It has been said to be the next Harry Potter and apparently Warner Bros. already have the rights to the book to turn it into a movie. I’m looking forward to diving into this one!

A few years ago I fell in love with reading. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until my mid-twenties, post English major college years, that I discovered this love. I owe kudos to J.K. Rowling for helping me fall in love with books. Harry Potter opened up an entire world of imagination for me.

I have discovered that my love for fiction centers around Young Adult lit. I’ve read many books by varying authors and feel that I am now capable of offering up solid opinions regarding both the age appropriateness and interest level for these books. However, it was not until recent that I felt a true calling to begin a blog where I could critique various popular reads for teens.

A few weekends ago I went on a date with my husband and we ended up at Barnes & Noble to browse the book shelves. A mother and her two daughters were staring at the young adult shelves, and were trying to decipher which books were appropriate for the eldest daughter as well as also fitting the genre her daughter was interested in. One of the workers noticed look on their faces and tried to come to their rescue. I desperately wanted to come their rescue. I knew which ones were good and which ones were horrible. I also knew which ones had moderate language and which had very little. However, I shied away and kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to seem like I was being nosy.

And so, I’ve decided it’s time to do it my way. It’s time to let moms and teens which YA books are good and which ones aren’t. It’s time for a few honest reviews on ‘Reading En Vogue’.